1. Field of the Invention
Present invention relates to a synthetic resin made tube container.
2. Description of the Invention
As this type of container, there is widely used a container generally consisting of a tube member having a thin-walled trunk portion, from the upper end of which a neck portion with a relatively small diameter is erecting through a shoulder; and of a cap member having a fitting cylinder which is screwed on the outside of the neck portion, the top face of the fitting cylinder being closed by a top wall with a discharge port, while at the circumference of the top wall, a cover plate is connected rotationally between an upright position and a lateral position through a thin hinge.
In this container, however, for fixing the cap member on the neck portion firmly, the neck portion and the fitting cylinder should have a certain longitudinal length for forming necessary numbers of screw ridges for providing mutual engagements on the outside of the neck portion and the inside of the fitting cylinder. Naturally, the length of neck portion and the fitting cylinder become longer, and this requires more material to be used for forming the container.
For solving this problem, the present applicant proposes several types of containers, each of which is constructed to shorten the length from the upper end of the trunk portion to the top face of the cap member including the neck portion. One of them has a top wall with a discharge port, the circumference of the top wall merging into the neck portion of the tube member, and a cover plate which is connected to the neck portion via a connecting member such as a fixing cylinder fitted on the neck portion. Another type of them comprises a cap member which consists of a top wall with a discharge port, a circumferential wall depending form the top wall so as to be fitted firmly on the outside of the neck portion, and a cover plate which is connected to the top wall through a hinge.
However, in the aforementioned containers, the top wall with the discharge port is formed integrally with the neck portion by merging the circumference of the top wall to the top of the neck portion. Otherwise, the top wall is connected to the neck portion in a way it is difficult to depart the top wall from the neck portion. These features make it difficult for users to make full use of the contents in the container. Namely, when the quantity of the contents is running small, the remainder of the contents usually gathers in the container""s shoulder portion which has a large rigidity against squeezing. As a result, a large physical force is required for pressing out the remainder, even if it could. Although, in the tube container preliminary mentioned having the top-closed fitting cylinder screwed on the neck portion, it is possible to detach the fitting cylinder together with the top wall and to take out the remainder, however it is impossible to detach the top wall in the container in which the top wall is integrally connected to the neck portion, and also it is difficult to detach it in the container in which the circumferential wall depending from the top wall is firmly fixed on the outside of the neck portion.
To solve such a problem, an useful tube container having a means for removing the top wall when its contents is running short, is desired.
Referring to a prior art which relates to this issue, for example, Japanese Utility model Laid-Open No. 4 (1992) 121262 shows a cap having a fitting peripheral wall for fitting on the neck portion of the container and a top wall for covering the upper face of the fitting peripheral wall, said top wall having a center portion which is depressed to form a recessed cylinder with a bottom. The recessed cylinder has a removable plate portion defined within a breaking line which is formed at a periphery of the bottom, a support member standing from a rear part of the removable plate portion, and a ring-shaped handle which is protruded forward from the top of the supporting member for tearing off the breaking line. In the prior art, however, said handle is used by pulling at the beginning of the use of the container to remove the removable plate portion so as to open the container. Therefore, there is no idea to provide means for removing the top wall to take out the small quantity of the contents remained in the container, especially without being a hindrance for a normal operation from the beginning of the use of the container to the removal of the top wall, for example an operation for distributing a liquid from a discharge orifice.
The primary purpose of the invention is to make it easy to take out the remainder of the contents in the container when the quantity of the contents is small. For this purpose, there is proposed a tube container with a top wall connected undetachably to the top end of the neck portion, wherein the container further has a separation part such as a breaking line for departing the top wall, and a knob or a belt for tearing off the separation part.
The second purpose of the invention is to assure a comfortable use in a usual service period from the beginning of its use until removing the top wall. For this purpose, there is proposed a tube container in which the knob or the belt is mounted in a way that it does not disturb the ordinary use.
The third purpose of the invention is to facilitate tearing off the breaking line. For this purpose, there is proposed a combination of a plurality of breaking lines, or a breaking line defined by an interface in which two different type of the synthetic resin meet together.